HP LP2475w - LCD display - TFT - 24" - widescreen - 1920 x 1200 / 60 Hz - 400 cd

This is an exceptional value as a monitor. Build quality is very good, it comes with a very wide range of connection options and a great supply of cables to support them all. Competitors are all priced quite a bit higher.

The H-IPS panel provides great color gamut coverage and huge viewing angle flexibility. It is good enough after calibration to serve in photo retouching applications by an advanced amateur or semi-pro.

Out of box color calibration is not so good, and the factory brightness setting is ridiculously high. I'd suggest resetting the monitor to the following values:

Brightness 17
Contrast 65
RGB 251 / 235 / 242

I spent ages looking at various options for a 24" monitor. Even the top-of-the-range models have reviews from real users talking about pretty significant problems - like wobbly text, screen occasionaly cutting out.
I finally went for this one. Very solid and easy to set up, not as ugly as I was expecting.. Height and angle adjustment is very convincing - and you can even pivot it into portrait mode. I haven't found any dead or faulty pixels so far. Viewing angle is excellent.

The only issue I have had is with a slight hum that it produces when the brightness is turned down below 100%. If you do a search for this on the Web, you'll find it's not an isolated issue. I found that the intensity of the hum (which is never loud but did annoy me) varied with the exact setting of the brightness. At 25% brightness it's almost inaudible (again) and that level was fine for working. (These monitors seem to be set very bright by default.) I use the monitor primarily for coding and the text is very clear with no distortion that you sometimes hear about.
Connectivity of this monitor is second to none, with easily accessible buttons. You also seem to be able to set each input up with different settings (eg brightness of one input can be set at 25% whilst another at 80%).
You can buy a speaker bar for about £25 if you want to have that feature. (It comes without any speakers.)
It has a few USB ports but these aren't incredibly accessible if you want to periodically plug in memory sticks or whatever. I ended up leaving a short extension cable plugged in.

Overall, I'd have given it 4.5 (losing 0.5 for the hum) and have no regrets. I don't know of any model I'd have bought in preference for working largely with text had money been no object.

I am not going to argue that this is not a good monitor. When I had this out of the box and turned it on it was outstanding. The quality of the picture is very obvious, with strong colours (the reds seem a little too strong, as is the green), sharp picture and a fairly good contrast ratio.

Now for the downsides.

The brightness of this monitor at 100% is far too bright. Once you turn it down to around 85% there is an audible electrical frequency whine as the back light dims. Setting it to around 64% (as suggested on some graphic design websites, and comfortable on the eyes) and it really is far too much to stand.

It also becomes very hot (maybe because it is ips, which is not necessarily a 'fault').

I also have massive concerns with the manufacturing quality. Essentially I bought this because of the pixel policy by HP, and the fact it is within their 'business' range of product hoping for good support.

I bought this around 12 months ago, 3 months after purchase 1000's of red pixels started to dance around (particularly in the black areas of the screen). I tested it on several laptops, and it was definitely the monitors fault. I then contacted HP who sent over an engineer.

Of the three times he visited, each replacement head had a dead pixel. Not acceptable. I decided to go for a refund. 9 months or so later after 'numerous' times of phoning/contacting HP I finally get the unit returned and the full amount of money back. This was due to their communication within customer service/customer relations, not their desire to provide me with a good service.

I am quite sad that I have had this much trouble, and that I had to return a potentially amazing monitor.

Sort it out HP.